Fresenius to buy Helios stake; raises '05 earnings guidance

SarahTurner

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Fresenius
de:578563
said Friday that it has agreed to buy 94% of German private hospital chain Helios Kliniken and also raised earnings guidance for 2005. The deal values Helios at 1.5 billion euros, with the remaining shares held by management. Fresenius will also pay 100 million euros for the company's net cash position. Fresenius has also agreed to buy Clinico, a manufacturer of medical devices. It plans to finance both buys via a 800 million euro capital increase and 700 million euro bond issue. Fresenius expects the acquisitions to be slightly accretive to 2006 EPS and to be clearly accretive from 2007. In the first nine months of 2005, Fresenius net income grew by 27% at actual exchange rates to 159 million euros. It said that, based on its preliminary nine-month figures, it has raised its full-year net income guidance to growth of more than 25% in constant currency.

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